There was a shift in the air and a quake in the ground as the man moved forward. Every one of his steps just felt heavy, like there was a real gravity to it that Grey couldn’t quite explain.
And then he did understand. He had seen something like this before. The Lightness Ability that he had used to create his Helion Frame in the first place had used something like this. But this didn’t feel like an Ability; it was almost as though the man’s Frame had activated, and right now he was triggering those changes in reality to effect change on what was happening.
Grey had only seen exceptionally powerful people activate their Frames at this point. He hadn’t seen anyone near or close to his Class do so, so he wasn’t used to being able to feel every little detail of it like he could now.
Everyone got out of the way of the man as quickly as possible, his appearance alone making them quake with fear. They certainly hadn’t reacted like this when Grey came forward with their Second- and Third-Rankers, so this was clearly a situation where the First Ranker was far more powerful.
In fact, Grey felt like he got more of a reaction for defeating the shadowed man than he did for defeating the triplets, and that was an interesting tidbit that he took note of as well.
It seemed there was a more significant difference between First Rankers and those beneath them than he thought.
But did it matter if he wasn’t in the Command Class? Grey wasn’t even sure if he could take this seriously at all. He didn’t even get up from his squatting position as the man appeared to loom over him, his body blocking out the sun.
"Hey, fat ass, I’m trying to get my vitamin D for the day. Shoo." Grey waved a hand.
The big man’s eyes narrowed. Grey had more than just a little nerve. If anything, he had way too much.
"Fighting is not allowed in the bazaar. We have rules and regulations against this, and you’ve violated them. Leave."
Grey suddenly began to laugh. He let the shadowed man fall to the ground, standing up until he looked the fat ass eye to eye. The latter might be larger than him, but in terms of height alone, there were very few people from Earth that Grey would lose out to.
"Make me."
The eyes of the fat man narrowed. "I don’t know who you are, or what you think you’re trying to accomplish here, but if you think people will let you lead them when you have this sort of attitude, you’re a worse fool than you look."
There was silence all around. No one wanted to offend a loose cannon like Grey, but that didn’t mean they didn’t agree with the fat man’s words.
Amunet’s group was the most respected and the strongest. From their perspective, Grey had just come out of nowhere and attacked them for no reason.
There were, indeed, rules about attacking in the hub as well. This was a place for building alliances and forming friendships. It was neutral ground where everyone was meant to be safe.
Of course, in practice, many died after they left these grounds, followed by those who wanted their things or had had their greed stoked. But it was much easier to be angry with what was right in front of them as opposed to what might happen in the shadows.
Mauve frowned. She wondered if she should intervene to help, or maybe it was a mistake that she hadn’t followed Grey’s suggestion to just kill the six of them to begin with.
Now, Alvin would not only recover his people, but he would use it as a chance to attack Grey’s credibility.
Grey, though, seemed unbothered, and this only made Mauve more worried. Grey was so stubborn that he had never once attempted to explain himself when the matters related to May came up. Mauve was still sure that there was a lot Grey wasn’t telling them, but it was like he felt that if someone wanted to doubt him, then let them do so.
It wasn’t going to be his place to waste his time trying to pull back people who were so easily manipulated.
Plus, Grey was so powerful he probably felt it was entirely unnecessary. However, Mauve knew that if Grey didn’t have enough soft power to back his hardened strength, then this would be an utter failure unless he was here to micromanage everything.
People couldn’t just fear him; they had to believe there was a future under him. And the current Grey was too much of a loose cannon.
Maybe it was fine like this, though. At the very least, with Grey present, no one would make a fool of their zone and force them to do anything.
That seemed to be the best outcome at this point...
But then Grey started picking at his ear with a pinky, and she got an odd feeling.
"Are you done grandstanding?" Grey asked.
Alvin frowned.
"I attack the people who piss me off. That’s the end of the story. With a sexy genius like Mauve by my side, do you think I would give you the chance to attack me on something so baseless? For what, exactly? If I didn’t want you to know I kicked the shit out of your people, I wouldn’t have brought them here.
"And if I wanted to hide my intentions, I would have just waited for this idiot to sneak out of this little flea market and chased him down like your little scurrying rats did my people.
"You’re lucky I’m so straightforward. If I was a backstabber like you or that bitch Amunet, I’d probably have a much higher kill count under my belt."
Grey stopped picking his ears and looked the man eye to eye, a murderous grin spreading across his face.
"But, if you want, I can add you to that kill count if you insist."